Purdue coach Danny Hope is lifted up by his players after they defeated the Hoosiers in the Old Oaken Bucket game Saturday afternoon at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette Ind. / Matt Kryger / The Star

Purdue coach Danny Hope celebrates with his players following the Old Oaken Bucket game Saturday afternoon at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette Ind. Purdue defeated the Hoosiers 56-35. / Matt Kryger / The Star

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind -- Danny Hope knows. His wife, Sally, knows, too. Otherwise, she wouldn't have crawled out of the bunker and pointedly told a West Lafayette reporter, "Y'all just couldn't wait for us to lose."

It's only a matter of time now before Hope, the four-year Purdue head football coach, gets his walking papers. Listening to his wife, then listening to Hope himself, they sounded like people who are prepared for the worst of all possible professional outcomes.

He won't be back.

And he shouldn't be back, even after a 56-35 Old Oaken Bucket victory over IU.

Deep in his heart, Hope knows this won't end well.

The question is not whether he'll be fired, but when. And then the question is whether or not he'll coach in the bowl game.

"Do you expect to be the coach here next year?" he was asked.

"I have no idea but either way I'll be OK," Hope said evenly. "I've learned to live on the hot seat here at Purdue. Anytime you have a contract with some weak spots -- I didn't have a lot of leverage -- it's not that strong a contract from a buyout standpoint or a compensation standpoint, then you can be on the hot seat on a regular basis. I'd love to be back here next year, but I'll be fine either way."

Athletic director Morgan Burke did not make himself available to the media after the game, but his prepared statement Oct. 29 tells you all you need to know.

"Everyone around our football program has high expectations for the 2012 season," Burke said two days after Purdue's 44-28 loss at Minnesota. "We have worked very hard over the past four years to improve our personnel, facilities and every phase of our program, which is evident. Our student-athletes, alumni, fans, coaching staff and administration all expect to see the program move forward and take a step up the postseason ladder. Currently, our performance has kept us from reaching our goals... We need to press forward, converting potential into results and having fun playing Boilermaker football."

True, it got better at the end of the season. True, the Boilers beat three bad teams, Illinois, Iowa and IU, to finish up the season. True, they are going back to a bowl game, which exactly half the teams in Division-I do on an annual basis. There's surely something to be said for a team that didn't quit on itself or its head coach.

But...

Another 6-6 season, and another secondary bowl, won't cut it.

Not in a year when Purdue, a program with big dreams, returned more starters than any other team in the conference.

Not when the Leaders Division was wide open with both Ohio State and Penn State ineligible for post-season play.

Not when the Boilers lost five straight to open the Big Ten season by an average margin of 20.6 points.

Not when Ross-Ade Stadium is only two-thirds filled, even on a Bucket day when Purdue was playing for a chance to get invited to a bowl game. Do the math: Hope's buyout is only $600,000 -- his staff's buyout is roughly $1.3 million -- but all those empty seats are millions of dollars being left on the table.

Don't believe for one second that the Bucket game made any impact on Hope's fate. Remember two years ago, when IU's Bill Lynch was fired just days after winning the Old Oaken Bucket? These decisions are not based on a single game. These decisions are based on a body of work, and for all of Hope's good intentions, the body of work simply hasn't been good enough.

That is not written with any joy or without deep consideration of the facts. We're talking about a man's livelihood here, not to mention the lives of all his coaches and their families who work in this itinerant business. But it's the harsh reality of the big-time coaching world.

A reporter posed the following: "It sounds like you're at peace with what you've done here, you're hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. Is that an accurate reading of the situation?"

Fair question.

"No, I didn't say that," Hope said. "You did."

"That's what I'm asking, is that a fair assessment?"

"I always do my best," said Hope, misinterpreting the question. "There will be no second guessing about my effort and commitment. I've committed my life to Purdue football for the last four and a half years and sometimes it wasn't reciprocated from many others on the outside."

I wondered, who specifically failed to reciprocate? The administration? The fans? The media?

"Everyone else but us," he said.

Then he paused and swallowed his anger.

Defensive? Absolutely.

Understandable? Absolutely again.

But this is a bottom-line business.

And so Burke will make his call -- the sooner the better -- and then the speculation can begin. Dave Doeren at Northern Illinois. Brock Spack at Illinois State. Pete Lembo at Ball State. Jeff Tedford, formerly of California. Darrell Hazell of Kent State. And several others.

"If a decision is made, would you want to coach in a bowl game?" he was asked.

"I haven't given it any thought," Hope said. "I'm going to celebrate this (Saturday night) with some refreshments and maybe drink the whole Bucket myself."

It's sad when a good man who did his best has to be told goodbye.

But it's time.

It's just time.

Bob Kravitz is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. Contact him at (317) 444-6643 or via email at bob.kravitz@indystar.com. You can also follow Bob on Twitter at @bkravitz.